Dale Jr. off to hot start

CONCORD, N.C. (AP) - Dale Earnhardt Jr. had plenty of company Wednesday when he strolled into the garage area of Lowe's Motor Speedway to begin his Winston Cup career.

Thirteen television cameras and almost 50 journalists were waiting to chronicle every move of the 24-year-old marvel.

"You feel like everybody's looking at you. You feel like all eyes are on you," said Earnhardt, who came to the track for a two-day test session in advance of the Coca-Cola 600.

Earnhardt has selected the May 30 event at the suburban Charlotte track to make his debut in stock car racing's premier series.

Already elevated to celebrity status in the racing world for being the son of seven-time Winston Cup champion Dale Earnhardt, the younger Earnhardt is quickly forging his own identity as a talented driver. He won NASCAR's Busch Grand National title last year as a rookie, and he's leading the points chase again in 1999.

That kind of success has created high hopes for Earnhardt to become one of the next superstars of Winston Cup racing, even though he has yet to run a single race on the circuit.

Earnhardt isn't exactly doing anything to discourage the hype.

"I want to win. That's what we came here for," said Earnhardt, who showed up for his coming-out party sporting a freshly bleached crop of blond hair. "Do I think we're capable of winning? We've probably got a long way to go and a lot of things to figure out before we're at the level that Jeff Gordon and a lot of these other guys are at. And I understand that. That's why we're here, to figure out how big of a gap we have to bridge."

That gap may not be as big as he thinks, at least according to three-time Winston Cup champion Gordon.

"I think we all respect him," Gordon said. "He's got a lot of talent. I think just gaining the experience in the heavier Winston Cup cars is the only thing I see he's lacking in. But from what he's done in the Busch Grand National cars, that's not going to take him long to do in the Winston Cup cars."

There was evidence of that Wednesday.

Earnhardt's team brought two cars, and one developed a malfunction that led to a carburetor fire before it ever made it out to the 1.5-mile, high-banked trioval.

Earnhardt got only three laps of practice in the other car before afternoon showers ended the opening practice session after only about 50 minutes. The best of his laps, however, was good enough to place him sixth among those drivers who got on the track.

Since Earnhardt can't get a provisional starting spot, he will have to qualify for the Coca-Cola 600 field strictly on speed.

"We have nothing to fall back on, no catch net at all, and for that reason we're going to put all of our concentration into it," Earnhardt said. "But if you sit there and think about it, you can psyche yourself out. It's all a mind game."

In addition to defending his Busch series title this year and running in the Coca-Cola 600, Earnhardt plans to race in four more Winston Cup races this summer and fall before moving up to the main circuit on a full-time basis in 2000.